Hi, I have been posting in other forums, please check out BeeSource and the link in diseases for powderes sugar http://www.beesource.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000481;p=1 and our website www.Countryrubes.com for pictures on how we do this. We had just heard about using powdered sugar to knock down mites last spring and tried it with amazing results. We normally do not use Apistan in the spring, but this spring we had really infested hives and even bought some Sucrocide to give it a try. We tried the powdered sugar first and on our most infested hive, we counted over 1400 mites. You do need to use it like Sucrocide, 3 times, 7 to 10 days apart. We have been careful to use it when there are no honey flows. We used it in the Spring, in July after we pulled our berry honey and before the thistle flow and now after we pulled our honey. This is a wonderful way to knock down mites now, before the mite population explodes as drone brood decreases. Now mites will be entering worker brood before its capped and weakening them. These additional mites entering decreasing amounts of worker brood can stress the developing bees. I believe this to be a critical time in mite infestation as this working force is supposed to see the colony throughthe winter. If you are waiting for fall to to use Oxalic acid, this is something you can do right now. Its easier than Sucrocide and doesn't anger the bees. When you sift the powderes sugar onto the frames, you hear a curious gentle buzz. People who have drenched their bees with Sucrocide have reported very angry bees. There are instructions on the above post along with people who have tried it and we have detailed pictures and explanations on our website. Good luck, Janet :D :D

Michael, I can't find anything on vapor. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Do you have a link or something I can refer to? Thanks

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Everyone said it couldn't be done. But he with a chuckle replied, "I won't be one to say it is so, until I give it a try." So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin. If he had a worry he hid it and he started to sing as he tackled that thing that couldn't be done, and he did it. (unknown)

I don't know if the Salem Beekeepers have thanked you for coming to the meeting, but I wanted to say "thank you" for coming and the powered sugar suggestion.

I have poureed the powder sugar over the frames and brushed it between the gaps of the frames....My bees have "decided" that it is a nucences [sp] that they can live with. They don't seem angry with it at all.

The last time I used the poweded sugar, a lot of bees when outside of the hive and was grooming themselves. Is this the normal behavior that you see after dusting your hives?

The SBB works great and is easy to remove and replace. It's great for finding out the count of verola...Between the two, I am finding less virola in my worst hive. I have given 3 poweded sugar treatement so far.

I even put a mound of powdered sugar at the entrance of the hive to force the foraging bees to get dusted, but that is gone in 10 minuste. Housekeeping bees don't like it there...

We know here powered sugar method but I do not know anybody here who use it.

But when you use it you should notice that hive must be without brood. Otherwise most of mites are in brood frames. Here in Finland we have so warm that most of hives still have capped brood and we must wait a month that all bees have emerged.

Just now leaves are dropping from trees in south part of country. In the middle of country trees are pale.

Thank you, I really enjoyed coming up to Oregon and will be there again for the NW Fall Beekeeping Conference. Turns out, powdered sugar does not harm brood at all. There has been studies down here http://www.bioone.org/bioone/?request=get-document&issn=0022-0493&volume=097&issue=02&page=0171and here is a quote from Michael W during a discussion if I should try rye flour on Beesource.com. (OTC is an antiboitic that they were mixing with various dusts including powdered sugar).'In the study they tested without the OTC also to see if the dusts alone would injure the hives. They found that powdered sugar did NOT but many other things did. They defined "mortality" by bees removing larvae. In Ellis's experiement, if adults were removed from the experiment, adult bees wouldn't have been there to remove the larvae. Adult bees may have removed the larvae due to a foreign substance in the cell that was not actually harming the brood. They dusted directly into cells so anything your applying to top bars may or may not end up in cells to a degree to matter.

They made a square on the frame of brood and dusted each dust directly into the cells to see what would happen. There are pictures of this in the study where the bees go back and remove the brood in the area of the square but no where else. The bees did NOT remove brood from the squares dusted with powdered sugar. They said this may be due to the fact that the sugar is very similar to the nectar they are already feeding to the larvae.' We have found no damage in any of our hives. We have done 3 major treatments on all of our hives, and now we have two hives with large mite loads that we are treating with powdered sugar separately. There is no brood damage, no queen damage and the bees seem very happy with it. It also seems to increase their hygenic actions, now we see them grooming themselves all of the time on the landing boards, way after we have used powdered sugar. You do have to monitor a lot to know the mite load and if its increasing. Your larger booming hives will have more mites. What is amazing is how many the sugar knocks down. On a very infested hive, the first treatment will yield over 700 mites, and the second treatment a week later showed about 300 mites. I need to do one more. Our plan of action is to dust all hives in November when the queen stops laying to capture phorectic mites living on the bees (No brood to hide in). I have pictures posted on www.countryrubes.com Thanks for your input, Janet

What is amazing is how many the sugar knocks down. On a very infested hive, the first treatment will yield over 700 mites, and the second treatment a week later showed about 300 mites. I need to do one more.

In Finland we have tested that powder sugar method and professionals were not satisfied with results. As you write, it needs many handlings. With oxalic acid liquid results are good with one handling. When brood are not any more in the hive, brood does not happen anything.